Well, I never really wanted a Revan figure, but I'll have to buy him just to show support for the EU toys so someday I can get the ones I do want. (That being said, I would have held no ill will toward ICMG and would have bought him if produced. )

I'm happy that an EU figure won. Granted, Revan is an odd choice out of all the EU that has been produced to date, but no amount of griping and bitching from oldtimers is going to change the fact that EU is the wave of the future. Toy-wise, the OT is played out and the PT is getting there. People want EU figures. Some of you guys like Rob and Brent do have legitimate points about the size of the market, but at the same time, I can't see how such figures can fare any worse than some of the ultra-obscure background alien pegwarmer crap we've seen over the years.

People act like this is the end of the world. It's not like all the OT figures in production are going to be pulled and replaced with characters from the Ewok cartoon! You'll still get your precious Tatooine Lukes and your Han Solo re-re-repacks and your obscure Imperial flunkeys and your rubber-masked extras that were glimpsed in the deep background for 3 seconds. Be happy with your 60-80 figures per year, and don't begrudge us a handful of characters WE want to see.

I think anyone who believes someone like, say, the Tonnika Sisters will sell better than Revan (I mean on the normal retail market as a whole) is just kidding themselves. Even some kid who doesn't recognize either character is going to go for the armored dude with the lightsaber instead of the space whores in avocado pajamas with beehive hairdos. And It seems like even in the collecting community, very few people really want Hermi and Yarna.

And yes Slothus, EU is a HUGE force in online fandom. I don't intend to be at all harsh when I say this, for I state simple fact: anyone who doesn't see it is simply not visiting the right sites. There are scores of entire sites devoted to EU--for example, TheForce.net's Literature forum is a huge gathering place of EU fans, as are DarkHorse Comics' boards and TOS's Books Comics and TV forum, then there's The Unofficial SW Encyclopedia, Wookieepedia, CloneWarz.com, various New Jedi Order pages, the list goes on and on. We just don't come to collecting sites to talk EU, so that why those who only visit collecting sites just aren't getting the full picture of the fandom. These sites really are like echo chambers sometimes.

I'm not doubting those horror stories from SOTE, but remember that that was a full ten years ago, so using it as a predictor of 2007 success is shaky at best. It's 2006 and there's a LOT more to SW fandom than the 35-year-olds who grew up with the OT. You carried the torch in the '90s, but face it--you guys aren't the only ones anymore. The majority of today's children weren't born yet, many of today's teenagers were just toddlers, and half of today's adult collectors probably weren't collecting yet either. And anyone who got into SW in the last 10 or 5 or even the last year, is just as valid as someone who's been here since the '80s. Hardcore collectors who post on boards such as this aren't even representative of all SW collectors or all message board posters, let alone the fandom as a whole.

Not to mention the 1997-98 EU figures remain some of the rarest and most coveted SW figures today. The concept-art vehicles were pretty cool, and really aren't EU in any event. I never saw the Clone Wars Durge and Asajj Ventress figures--who were faithfully lifted straight from the comics and TV show--and they remain relatively tough to find 3 years later. And a good portion of the Clone Wars stuff was not even based on "real" EU at all--for example, Bandito Yoda bears zero resemblance to anything seen in the comics or games, and is really just something cooked up for the toy line. My personal opinions aside, KOTOR is one of the most popular SW games EVER, one of the most acclaimed and popular video games, period, from the last few years, and was successful enough to spawn a spinoff comic series and (so far) one sequel. Toys are the next logical extension.

EU is the future. Get over it. And neither OT nor PT figures are going anywhere, anyways, so don't act like EU is going to singlehandedly kill all your chances of getting those Holy Grail background figures (who were probably never seriously in the running at all).

I hope some of you dinosaurs enjoy your sour grapes while we whippersnappers that are destroying the hobby are having fun playing with our Kir Kanoses and Quinlan Voses and Mara Jades.

Not to mention the 1997-98 EU figures remain some of the rarest and most coveted SW figures today.

. . .But only because they were shipped in a very-limited basis. They were difficult to find even back then, and they haven't been re-done yet, so of course they're gonna be some of the most-coveted items around. I remember seeing the Darktrooper and Steroid-Trooper a total of one time in stores. Had one of them in my hands, even, and gave it to some other guy who was there, and never saw any of them again.

But I'm glad to hear about all the EU crap they're making next year. That's just that much less stuff I have to buy.

EU is the future. Get over it. And neither OT nor PT figures are going anywhere, anyways, so don't act like EU is going to singlehandedly kill all your chances of getting those Holy Grail background figures (who were probably never seriously in the running at all).

I hope some of you dinosaurs enjoy your sour grapes while we whippersnappers that are destroying the hobby are having fun playing with our Kir Kanoses and Quinlan Voses and Mara Jades.

Heheh

Well, I'm not personally getting over the contest result. I believe Vos won(A character I DO like as well as many different SW comics-EU related) but I feel Revan is BS. I don't consider background characters the 'holy grail', but having them would be nice . I never felt EU was going to harm my chances of future OT fig releases. Hasbro's contract is long so I'm not worried. I disagree about the Eu future though. and though I can't see the future I feel Hasbro's gonna 'overguage' the EU market again and retail's gonna get pissed they can't sell several x3 to a case EU figs that the 'millions' EU folks wanted that are pegwarming--way I see it coming anyway. Aside from the Age comments and some of the other 'jokes?' a well put together argument, Valin K..

SOTE was definitely the choice that came to my mind first too OCB... Tons of stuff that basically replaced the basic line for a time, and for a failed multi-media event... The comic, game, and novels weren't ever really hot for SOTE when they were out and the toy line failed with them I think...

I think EU has its place, but I definitely think it loses steam when it starts replacing the film figures... I'm surprised they're doing such secondary characters first instead of trying like a "Luke in...." outfit. Like NJO Luke perhaps, or some such. EU that's still got an OT tie-in or some such, but what do I know?

I am a dinosaur and I think that this dinosaur has a better argument. If they go overboard with the EU stuff (I am not at all opposed to a lite sprinkle of EU) it will SOTE all over again. Valin, you were 8 when SOTE came out so you did not see the Havoc it wrecked on pegs and that was when demand was high, the line was still new.

With the marvel 2 packs being more OT movie based thats a good thing, pleases even the diehards. Vos way cool I am in. Too many characters like the Youvon Zong or however its spelled, is not good for the pegs.

As you get older you will learn the sad unfortunate truth that history repeats itself. The only smart thing with Hasbro's EU strategy has in place is they are doing most of the EU stuff in 2 packs seperate from the standard line. So if it fails that SKU will go away.

Lastly, like the Star Trek franchise spinoffs, EU is not the absolute future. EU will always be a pale but sometimes complimentry carbon copy of the original.People will always flock to the original real thing.

Not sure if this has been said yet, but a lot of people think that EU won't sell because SOTE didn't sell. Well, this year we got 2 EU figures. One of them was probably the hardest to find figure out of the entire TSC, and the other was stil pretty rare. Some people have been saying at other forums how they are just now finding Foul Moudama!

So don't base how well 2007 EU will sell compared to how 1996 SOTE sold, because everything back then didn't sell well.

Not sure if this has been said yet, but everyone thinks that EU won't sell because SOTE didn't sell. Well, this year we got 2 EU figures. One of them was probably the hardest to find figure out of the entire TSC, and the other was stil pretty rare. Some people have been saying at other forums how they are just now finding Foul Moudama!

So don't base how well 2007 EU will sell compared to how 1998 EU sold, because everything back then didn't sell well.

Agreed. The sales have been good on EU items in the past 3 years. I see a lot of very selective memory at work regarding Hasbro and the EU in this thread. There's a lot of mention of SOTE but not so much mention of the POTF2 EU line. I know there are a number of members of this board that are still actively seeking Space Troopers and Dark Troopers from that line.

And what about Clone Wars? Clone Wars was the biggest EU cross-promotional event that we've seen. I don't recall seeing that much from the Clone Wars line pegwarming. In fact, some of the Clone Wars pieces are among the hottest items on the secondary market. Try getting the Clone Wars Command Gunship now. Some of the only poor sellers in the line were just poorly designed toys, like the Destroyer Droid launcher and el bandito Yoda. But everything else appears to have sold quite well. Especially the core characters and the EU characters that were introduced through this line. There's also the matter of Clone Wars supporting not one, but two different figure line. Fans gobbled up both the movie and animated lines.

Also, add in the fact that Clone Wars has been successful with licensees other than Hasbro. Gentle Giant has done especially well with Clone Wars, and one of the most sought after pieces that Gentle Giant has ever released is a Clone Wars Padme.

There are also bound to be offerings for both of the television projects that are slated. More Expanded Universe from the mind of Uncle George. Hasbro has already stated that they're looking at those projects, but naturally things are still in a state of flux because of the nature of the productions and their estimated release dates.

I think Clone Wars has proven that Hasbro can make the EU work within the whole of the Hasbro Star Wars line. There's no doubt in my mind that the Star Wars line will continue to be anchored by the movies. The movies are the foundation of all that is Star Wars. But as time rolls on and we move further and further past the movies, there's going to be a greater need to call upon the EU to supplement the releases from the Saga. And if you're not down with that, then vote with your dollars and don't buy the EU releases.

« Last Edit: July 13, 2006, 02:56 PM by Nicklab »

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Not sure if this has been said yet, but everyone thinks that EU won't sell because SOTE didn't sell. Well, this year we got 2 EU figures. One of them was probably the hardest to find figure out of the entire TSC, and the other was stil pretty rare. Some people have been saying at other forums how they are just now finding Foul Moudama!

So don't base how well 2007 EU will sell compared to how 1998 EU sold, because everything back then didn't sell well.

Just to clarify:

SOTE: Fall 1996 - clogged the pegs for months

EU: Fall 1998 - sold well, but were shipped in low quantities. There's no telling what would have happened if they were shipped in SOTE-like numbers

Not sure if this has been said yet, but everyone thinks that EU won't sell because SOTE didn't sell. Well, this year we got 2 EU figures. One of them was probably the hardest to find figure out of the entire TSC, and the other was stil pretty rare. Some people have been saying at other forums how they are just now finding Foul Moudama!

So don't base how well 2007 EU will sell compared to how 1998 EU sold, because everything back then didn't sell well.

Hmmm I don't know about EVERYONE saying THAT. What I read entailed that it dependedon distribution quantites that IF they were like SOTE's then we're in for it. So, that is a conditional-based guess- not a concrete statement and not at all like what you just mentioned . Of course there were many pro-EU folks who have stated here and in other forums that they feel the EU line will do well. Still using words like everyone?...sigh*.

As for the Foul...at least in my area he was slightly difficult to get when the wave first hit(typical) but, since the 2nd 3rd 4th shipments he's seriously pegwarming STILL at 8 retail stores in my area. I can go down to several WM's at least now and get 6,7 if I wanted. Can you, then imagine that if 'Foul' was some other EU character say... ahhh... Revan shipped like Foul minimum 4 shipments and each case ass. has 3 in it(and Foul wasn't even that many to a case)??!Think about what that would be like distribution-wise across the US. Would the tens of thousands of people that wanted him all buy it? That's going to be hundreds of thousands Revans shipped worldwide. We have enough 'video gamers' (that buy action figures) that are gonna buy it?...or will it pegwarm?....hmmmm. Well, all I can do is hope they don't pack him 3 or maybe even 2 to a case so I don't see him for 6 months at the stores.

Foul Moudama was a pegwarmer in my area. Not as bad as Holo Ki-Adi-Mundi or Lushros Dofine, but is still see him on the pegs. You can't add Scorch to the mix of how EU sells, because he is a Clone. Plus you could put a Clone in a tu-tu and he would sell well. Not to mention Hasbro stort packed him in cases. Unlike the Utapau Clone which pegwarmed in so areas, because he wasn't short packed. I think the only way the EU line will take off is if Hasbro doesn't cut corners like that have in the past. They need great articulation (ball-joint perfered over angle-cut) and many accessories. With those two items the line will live and grow. Without them I don't see the line moving very fast IMO.momaw nadon

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